The characters and the plots belong to Dolphinheart99, who wrote the entire original story, and to their respective owners. I got authorization from Dolphinheart99 to take some elements of her stories. I therefore own nothing, minus the names of my OCs. And for anyone wondering why, I explicitely asked for Dolphinheart99's consent to pick up elements of her stories and adapt them with mine, as I did with DieHardBrendan with his.
Link: . ?rid=302065999#last
BTW : I sign this fanfic to the brave defenders of Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes.
Over the next few days, Ava spent her free time between her father, her naive cousin, Anna Oliphant and her group, Claire, Barry and Ava's aunts while also taking some worktime to socialize and bond with her fellow US Marines while discussing about life and their deployment. Deployment which was about to shift to the Baltic Sea, where they would take part in Estonian-led and Finnish-led exercises, as well as Swedish-led operation Archipelago Endeavor, therefore missing Christmas and a lot of events that were special to her friends and family.
Ava was now with the rest of her company on standby for their next deployment phase before discussing other matters such as family, pregnancies and children, since many of the Marines in C Company were parents or soon-to-be parents with families back in the United States. Ava, on the other hand was not interested in any romantic relationship, even if some of her friends were LGBT people, making Ava a quite tolerant person in terms of sexual interest. But this was balanced by Ava's cynical take on the world, which made her a quite unlikely person to celebrate any formal event in her Blue Dress Uniform, but rather in casual jeans and shirt.
On the other hand, Owen, Claire, Barry and Owen's sisters had gotten time to get to know each other, going as far as Owen and Claire marrying in Paris while Ava was witnessing it from a distance, still wearing a camouflage uniform complete with her combat equipment and laser simulation gear, since she was very busy with the rest of C Company.
Speaking of Owen and Claire's wedding, they did invite their friends and family, including Ava's friends and their own, but requested it to be relatively cheap with a cost exceeding no more than a grand total of $400. Which Owen and Claire managed to do, going as far as getting Valentina and her girl & boy scout friends as guests. But Ava was nowhere to be found by the time Owen and Claire said 'Yes'. And Ava, who was still dressed in her camouflage uniform, arrived just in time to see her father and Claire being pronounced husband and wife.
"Congrats, Claire. Just don't make my father crazy." Ava said smiling happily.
"Be honest, Ava. I did hear everyone else's point of view, but never yours. Do you see me as a cumbersome replacement for your late mother?" Claire asked.
"No. Fucking no. You'll never replace Mom. But you can make Dad happy and that's what I really want." Ava replied giggling.
"I feel you got something else to tell us." Owen intervened.
"Yeah. I'll go in the Baltic States, Finland and Sweden for the rest of the year as part of several exercise. Several of which are involving Finland, aka NATO's newest member." Ava informed her father.
"Just be careful." Kayden told her niece.
"I will Aunt Kay. Don't worry about me. I'll be in touch with you, Dad. I'll call you if I can Aunt Cammie. Oh, and I'll write you if I can't call you." Ava said with a few tears streaming down her face.
Cameron then hugged her niece before letting go, followed by Kayden and Barry. Owen and Claire then hugged Ava with tears in their eyes as the latter prepared to join the rest of C Company, which had gotten orders to be part of NATO's presence in the Baltic States, as well as for other training purposes alongside both NATO and other major allies. After letting go, Ava packed her equipment and left to link up with the rest of the US Marines from C Company, ready for her new personal adventures.
"She grew up so much." Claire said.
"So true. She's not a little girl or a sulky teen anymore. She's a fully grown teenager now." Owen concluded.
Ava was indeed ready for more adventures. This time as an adult and grown-up woman instead of a teenager as she used to live her own adventures.